I ran my half marathon and blogged my lovely little blog entry and then I sort of disappeared there for a bit. Sorry about that! Life sort of took over. Between getting used to things with a new job, all of the fall activities for my kids, a knee that was still sore from my race, and attempting to raise 5 kids while working full time and doing a grad class I found it really hard to make time to run.
I also was left with this feeling of "What next?" when I got past the glow of finishing my first half marathon.
I had another one of those meetings with my health coach and my goal for the next 6 months was to get back on the horse when it came to running, because I knew I had been slacking. I had just committed to doing a marathon relay with some people that I'd met through Moms Run This Town, and I decided to use that as motivation to get my butt running again.
I think it worked for the most part. So, I ran the Grand Rapids Marathon Relay on 10/20 and it was really a lot of fun. It was also super inspirational watching the first half marathon finishers and then the first marathon finishers as they crossed the line. I still think I want to go for a full marathon someday, but I know I need more experience and at least a few more halfs before I commit to that.
At any rate...here a few relay photos.
4/5 of our relay team
2 full relay teams - pre-race
A funny post race group photo of 2 relay teams
Unfortunately, I was getting sick the day I ran the relay and spent the past week feeling awful. I convinced my 10 year old daughter to try C25K with me, so we went out yesterday and did a few miles of c25k week 1 day 1. It wasn't bad, but I still had some trouble with my breathing. Darn illness!
It is getting cold here in Michigan now, and I'm once again left with the not so desirable task of trying to find appropriate running clothes that don't make me look like the stay-puff marshmallow woman. Thus far, that has not been so fun. I find myself wanting to rant all over again about the lack of cute looking, nice fitting running apparel for women who are not a size 8 or smaller. If I can buy a size L hoodie in normal clothing there is no reason I should need a XXL running shirt or jacket. That is messed up! I left Dick's Sporting Goods feeling fat and inadequate last night (yet again) and that stinks! I am going to need to find some cold weather running stuff soon...but not at that store I guess. I am still not sure exactly what I need to be buying, since I've never run in the cold before. It is a daunting task when I not only need to find stuff that will keep me warm, but will also not make me look awful.
That is about where I am right now. I'm going to pester my kid into running again today, and I know she'll whine and self-doubt the whole time. I need to get her past that. She is so confident about everything else, but ask her to do some physical activity and she immediately goes into "I can't" mode. Mama is out to change that, people! If I can do this, so can she!
